New York: Hewlett-Packard Co stunned Wall Street by alleging a massive accounting scandal at its British software unit Autonomy and taking an $8.8 billion writedown, the latest in a string of reversals that renewed questions about the competence of the storied company's board and senior managers.
HP said on Tuesday it discovered "serious accounting improprieties" and "a willful effort by Autonomy to mislead shareholders," after a whistleblower came forward following the May ouster of former Autonomy Chief Executive Mike Lynch.
The news sent the company's shares plunging 12 per cent to a 10-year low of $11.71. HP, which for decades was synonymous with technical excellence and innovation as one of the bedrock companies of Silicon Valley, now has a market value of roughly $20 billion, down from $155 billion in April of 2000.
CEO Meg Whitman took the helm at HP a little over a year ago when her predecessor, Leo Apotheker, was fired after less than a year on the job. Apotheker's one big strategic move during his brief tenure was the $11 billion acquisition of Autonomy, intended to hasten HP's transformation into a software and services company but which was criticized by many analysts as over-priced. "Most of the board was here and voted for this deal, and we feel terribly about that," Whitman said on a call with analysts....
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01:05 PM, Nov 21, 2012
Washington: Microsoft Corp claimed a victory in efforts to combat online banking fraud, saying it had confiscated several servers used to steal login names and passwords, disrupting some of the world's most sophisticated cybercrime rings. The software maker said on Monday that its cybercrime investigation group also took legal and technical actions to fight notorious criminals who infect computers with a prevalent malicious software known as Zeus. By recruiting computers...
11:13 AM, Mar 27, 2012
Buffalo: Facebook and its founder will try to have a man's lawsuit claiming part ownership of the USD 50 billion social networking website thrown out of court after securing proof the contract on which it's based is fake, a Facebook attorney said. Experts determined that the ink on the document, which Paul Ceglia of New York claims he and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg signed in 2003, is less than two...
04:54 PM, Dec 14, 2011
New York: US authorities on Wednesday charged seven people living in Estonia and Russia with using malicious software to hijack millions of computers worldwide to redirect Internet searches toward online ads. Starting in 2007, the suspects created fake companies that contracted with legitimate advertiser websites to drive Internet traffic toward their Internet pages, according to a Manhattan federal court indictment. About 4 million computers in 100 countries including the United...
08:28 AM, Nov 10, 2011
Johannesburg: Zambians wary of electoral fraud flocked to the Internet and social media on Tuesday to expose any irregularities in a closely contested presidential and parliamentary poll. Using text messages, Twitter, Facebook and email, Zambians reported scores of perceived voting glitches and irregular poll practices by early Tuesday afternoon - the first such use of mobile technology in the southern African nation. The election, pitching President Rupiah Banda against long-time...
08:59 AM, Sep 21, 2011
New Delhi: The bank fraud at Citibank's Gurgaon branch has shocked consumers. The Reserve Bank of India warned banks earlier this year about an increase in bank frauds, especially in private banks. We take a look at some of the top banking frauds of all time. 1. Jerome Kerviel Jerome Kerviel is a French trader who was convicted in 2008 for causing trading loss, breach of trust, forgery and unauthorized...
05:38 PM, Dec 29, 2010
This will provide better access to business-related information and data. ...
10:34 AM, Feb 22, 2010
Jadeja was allegedly fleeing with wife when police nabbed him. ...
03:40 PM, Jun 02, 2009
As per the RBI report, banking frauds are up 77 pc from the previous year and have crossed over Rs 1,000 crore. ...
07:47 AM, Nov 16, 2006
